


Two Ships

by themarkedones



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, F/M, Happy Ending, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-19 06:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1460047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themarkedones/pseuds/themarkedones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <br/><i>My hands, your hands, tied up like two ships.</i>
  </p>
  <p> Louis Tomlinson might have been a tiny bit bitter when it came to relationships. Who could blame him, though? When you watch your own girlfriend find her other right in front of you, that sets the foundation for a slightly cynical attitude. That was, until the small spot on his arm started to grow brighter, and the search was on.</p>
  <p>
    <i>A oneshot about finding your other half in a sea full of drifting ships.</i>
    <br/></p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	Two Ships

It had finally happened. Louis knew it was coming, and as much as he had tried to prepare himself for it, it still stung deep. She had found her _other_. Where did that leave him?

Well, right now, it left him walking aimlessly down a crowded sidewalk, unsure as to where he was going. 

Louis shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket as he walked and glanced up at the passing faces on the street. He couldn’t help but wonder if any of them had been through the same situation he was facing right then. 

Had any of them fell hopelessly in love with a girl, only to have to turn them free to the destiny that was chosen for them at birth? Had they literally watched their girlfriend look up and lock eyes with their other, and knew that it was all over after that? 

Louis sighed, glancing down at crook of his forearm. _“It’s your fault,”_ he sighed silently in his mind. The dim glow was covered by the fabric of his jacket, but he knew it was there, and he cursed it internally.

All his life, he was told he would grow to love his light. It would help him infinitely sometime in his life. But right now, all he could do was hate it. Honestly, he was never too fond of the idea. He didn’t understand the point of revolving his life around a stupid blush on his arm that was only used to decide one of the most important aspects of his life. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t _he_ choose who he spent the rest of his life with? It was his life, after all.

But it didn’t work like that, as much as he hated it. He could wish and wish all day long but it wasn’t changing the fact of the matter. He was alone, again, and there was no telling how long it would take him to find his other.

Everyone’s other is chosen at birth. However, the point in life where the two “soulmates” find each other varies among couples. Louis knew a few people whose light had indicated they were near their other the moment they were born in the hospital, and he also knew some who were in their older age and were still searching.   
Life was like a long game of hot and cold, the light guiding and pushing everyone towards the person who they were fated to be with. Louis had yet to even come close to finding his person, but he had seen it in action twice before.

When two halves get closer to each other, the dim glow starts to creep across the arm, starting right in the inner elbow, and works its way out, until it’s a bright red, feverish flush that has covered the whole arm. As soon as the two halves “connect,” it’s all over from there. 

The last time it happened, he saw the anchoring string traveling up from his girlfriend’s ring finger, towards her heart as soon as she reached out to the handsome boy that had walked over towards them during an afternoon walk in the park. Her arm had been hidden, so Louis couldn’t see her light start to grow brighter. But as soon as Louis saw her look past him and make eye contact with the guy, he knew he didn’t stand a chance.

Louis kicked his foot into a puddle on the side of the street, sending water spraying in front of him. He glanced around at his surroundings. A teenage boy was pressed up against the wall of a building by what Louis could only guess was his girlfriend. His eyes scanned down towards the boy’s hand which was splayed against her lower back and, sure enough, a glowing red line was wrapped around his ring finger, swirling up into his hand and disappearing underneath the sleeve of his jacket.

Louis’ eyes then snapped back down to the ground, his heart aching. He should have already found his anchor.

Of course, he couldn’t be too down about it. There were people out there who would never find their other. They would wander the world, completely alone, knowing that they would never feel that instant connection. 

He felt slightly guilty as he continued walking, eventually finding himself in a market square surrounded by people hustling by him. Why should he be so upset when it could have been so much worse? 

It was a common occurrence for people to get so upset that the person they were with wasn’t their other, and decided that it wasn’t worth losing that person to continue looking. Many people killed themselves when the connection didn’t happen with the person they wanted it to.

But then, where did that leave their other ship?

It left them drifting completely weightless for the rest of their lives without one smidge of hope to find their true soulmate. The light on their arm would disappear completely, and when it was gone, so was that hope in their chest that they would find the one person that could love them better than anyone else.

Some couldn’t take it. The despair and loneliness would get the best of them and they would choose to remove themselves from the problem all together just like their other half.

But there were the people who moved on. People were always trying to escape it, but there were the strong ones that moved on to stop their heart from breaking. Those were the ones that picked themselves up, brushed themselves off, and tried to make the best out of the situation. They would seek out other “lost” ships and anchor the best they could to prevent themselves from falling apart.

Louis couldn’t believe the strength these people had. He still had the chance to find his soulmate and yet here he was, simmering internally because he lost someone he only wanted to be with. They lost the people they _needed_ to be with and still continued on with their life.

He moved down the line of shops that circled the small square. They were all closing up for the night and had shut off the lights to display their goods. As he walked past table after table, his eyes were involuntarily drawn to any hand that he saw. Whenever he saw one with the twisting pattern wrapped around the ring finger, it wasn’t long until he saw the ship tied to that anchor, lingering around just a bit too close. 

He had been told before than when you find your other, it was almost physically painful to be away from them. The heart aches like nothing ever felt before. The body actually gets weaker the farther the ships drift away from each other. And Louis thought that what he was feeling was painful. 

If whatever they felt was worse than the sting inside his heart right then, he didn’t want any part of it.

_“Maybe you’re just scared of love,”_ his conscious hissed internally. He rolled his blue eyes and reached up to scratch his left forearm.

He didn’t think he was scared of love. He just didn’t think any of this was fair. Or maybe that was just him being completely bitter.

That was a very likely chance.

He scratched his arm just a little more, letting out an annoyed huff. His feet stilled underneath him as he paused to pull up the sleeve on his left arm so he could scratch it a bit better.

When he glanced down at the skin, the sight made his heart jump to his throat.

The usually small, dim glow in the crook of his arm was just a tad bit brighter than usual. It had grown maybe a half an inch in diameter as well. 

He had never seen it do this before and he could only guess what it meant. The ships were drifting a bit closer to each other for the very first time.

Louis lifted his head, shaking the hair from his eyes as he glanced around the square. It could have been anyone there. A few striking faces stood out to him as he scanned the crowd. Maybe it was the blonde girl leaning up against the wall of the building in the distance, eyeing the men who passed by as if they were a piece of fruit ripe for picking. Of course it could have been the African American boy with the hat who was reading over what looked like a script for the local theater company. They both looked pleasing to Louis’ eyes. But then, he realized.

It didn’t matter what was _pleasing_ to him. It wasn’t his choice.

Louis jerked the sleeve to his jacket down again and continued walking, his face etched into a scowl. 

It just wasn’t fair to Louis. Sure, it could have been a lot worse for him, but it still hurt. What bothered him the most was that there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He knew this going into that relationship.

When he had met Natalie in line at the local grocery store, he hoped and prayed that when he looked down at his arm, he would see that she was _the one_. But of course that didn’t happen. All Louis could think was _“Just my luck,”_ because it really was. He wasn’t the luckiest of guys to ever walk the planet.

Just because they didn’t bond like he so desperately hoped didn’t stop the two from getting closer and closer. His mother had warned him as soon as she saw the relationship progressing. 

But did he listen?

Of course not.

Louis was his own person. He had his mind made up that she was the one he wanted for the rest of his life. Natalie had told him the same thing, and of course he believed her. The only thing was that she hadn’t experienced anything but the tip of the iceburg when it came to the level of feelings she could have for one person.

She realized this when she saw Wesley. 

The script was written and there was absolutely nothing that Louis could do to stop it. They were just two bookends with pages between them that just didn’t fit quite right together to complete the fairytale that both of them wanted.

“Damnit,” Louis cursed, clawing at the skin under his jacket as he continued slumping around the square. He was almost at the end of one side and turned to walk down the other. He swiftly pulled the sleeve back up from his arm and his eyes widened. 

The red flush was now creeping down his forearm towards his hand and had gotten infinitely brighter. 

His ship was getting nearer with every passing moment.

A shot of adrenaline coursed through his body, but he wasn’t sure why. “What are you doing?” he mumbled to himself. His pace quickened under his feet. He was going to go home, he decided. He didn’t have to play into this. It was _his_ life with _his_ choices, not some dumb prophecy that he didn’t want to fulfill. 

He slunk down the final row of tables and out of the cluster of shops, pushing past the crowd of people that had gathered. Children scampered around in the puddles at his feet, their parents lost in conversation close to them. Louis felt a pang in his heart when he noticed that the two children who were stomping in the puddles had red tendrils etched into their chubby fingers.

He wasn’t jealous... was he?

_“Maybe a little jealous,”_ he silently thought with another roll of his baby blues. They couldn’t be more than four years old and they already had the biggest event of their life over and done with. They didn’t have to keep worrying and searching tirelessly like most of the population. 

Louis’ eyes glanced down at his arm again. The blush was now covering most of his forearm and was beginning to twist around his wrist and into the palm of his hand. His heart started to pound in his chest but on the outside, he tried to contain his emotions. 

He wasn’t supposed to be excited. He was supposed to always hate this and everything that came with it and the unfairness of it all.

But now he found himself starting to hurry down the crowded sidewalk, his eyes snapping back and forth between the faces that were blurring past him and his vivid, scarlet painted skin. The injustice of the situation was gone from his mind. The bitterness was slipping away with every quick step that he took on the slick sidewalk.

Rain water splashed up on his Vans as his feet thudded against the ground. His shoes and the cuffs of his jeans were soaking wet but he couldn’t care less. 

The finish line of the wild goose chase was almost in sight. All he had to do was seek them out now. His breaths were coming out in labored huffs from his lips, fog drifting past his face. He looked towards the rash and stopped walking all together. It was starting to disappear. The rash was growing dimmer and was starting to retreat to the hub in the crook of his arm.

Louis spun around on his heel and frantically scanned the street around him. When he turned, the rash stopped diminishing, stilling against his skin. “This way,” he instructed himself, starting to trot back towards the mob of people that were exiting the square. It was starting to grow brighter and brighter. Had he really ran right past his other and not realized it?

His feet moved faster, gradually bringing him to a sprinting pace. He knew he looked like a maniac, his eyes locking on anybody that passed him. But to be honest, he didn’t really care.

The cold wind whipped his shaggy hair in all directions, nipped at his cheeks and nose, and caused goosebumps to rise on his skin. The soggy shoes didn’t help either. Yet, out of all these things, the only thing he could focus on was the growing crimson glow on his arm. It was brighter than ever now as he neared the market. Had they ran past him and back into the market after he had left? 

Louis couldn’t help but feel a bit of fear as he rounded the corner of the building. He was scared of love. But he wanted to feel strong. He wanted to find his waiting ship and be built up to the man he was supposed to be. He didn’t want to waste his time anymore. He didn’t want to waste the love that should be.

He dashed around the edge of the building and into the market, his shoulder ramming into people who became unwilling obstacles in his race. His arm was now completely covered in the cherry red tint, but as he passed the central point of the square, it began to fade. “No!” he cried, spinning around to go back.

But as he turned on his heel and started to run back the way he came, his body slammed into a bystander and he came crashing to the ground. His head hit the cold, wet pavement underneath him, forcing a groan and a string of curses to tumble from his lips.

Louis’ eyes were clenched closed as he laid there. He was sure that he had missed it. He had missed his ship and he was going to have to keep searching for the rest of his life.

“Are you okay?” a soft voice asked him. A warm sensation moved down his arm as his eyes snapped open. The red wisps were working their way from the brightest point in his arm, swirling around and tangling together until they reached his ring finger. The girl was holding her hand out towards him, offering to help him up.

And her arm shared the same beautiful mess of coils.

“What were you running from? I was trying to find you.” A smirk was planted on her lips as she spoke to him. The girl locked her hand with his and hoisted Louis up to a standing position where he finally got a good look at her. She was by far the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Nobody other than the girl with the flowing brunette tendrils and whiskey colored eyes mattered anymore.

“What?” Louis exhaled, shaking his head after realizing she had asked him a question.

She let out a small giggle, her perfect pink lips pulling away from her teeth. That smile would be the death of him, he was sure of it. “You must have hit your head pretty hard.” Louis could barely concentrate on the sweet lilting tone of her voice because their hands were still meshed together. Warmth traveled from his once cold fingers and enveloped his whole body in a sense of comfort and stability. His heart no longer raced, but pounded stronger than it had ever before inside of him. It wasn’t just beating for him now. It was beating for her, as well.

And at that moment, he wasn’t scared anymore. He wasn’t scared of love.

“I asked, what were you running from?”

His body felt stronger than ever. He didn’t shutter at the thought of the future anymore. He had found his anchor. He had found the one person in the world that would be there for him through thick and thin. He found his strength. This was the person that tied him to this world and kept him earth bound and sane. She was the compass to his ship, guiding him through the life they would build together. He was her compass as well; he was the light that would steer her in the right direction and stand firm with her through every tough decision. She was his other. She was his ship. 

Louis swallowed hard before taking a deep breath. “Nothing,” he replied finally, his blue eyes locking with her brown ones. “There’s nothing I’m running from.”

She made him strong.


End file.
